Self-playing-piano mechanism.



A. I'. LARSON & K. 0.0S'1BRGREN.

SELF PLAYINGL PIANO MEGHA'NISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, 1908. I 914,054. Patented: Mar. 2, 1909.

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A. F. LARSON @L K. o.v OSTERGRBN.

SELF PLAYING PIANO MECHANISM.

Dslargren Axel fbarsun Karl D.

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A nrnegs vA. F.y LARSON ,6a K. O. OSTERGREN.

SELF PLAYING PIANO MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED PEB. 19, 1908.

Patented Mar. 2, 199.

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WI messes- Inven c1115 Axel RLarsnn VKarl [1..Dsll53ran DPI-'1E E y @wmffw i so l 56 tened to A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AXEL F. LAR'soN AND KARL o.

MICHIGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

OSTERGREN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoRs To MARQUETTE PIANO COMPANY, oF CRYSTAL FALLS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or SELFAPLAYING-PIANO MECHANISM.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Applicata@ mea rebmaryjle, 190s. r serial N. maar.

To all whom 'it may concern;

Be it known that we, A'XELF. LARsON land- KARL O. OSTERGREN, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of -I Cook-and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Self-Playing-Piano Mechanism,- (Case 2,) of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact descriptlon, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates `to self-playing pianos, and has for its object improved mechanism whereby the rewinding of the rolls of music is eilectually accomplished. It is well known in this class 'of pianos that the rolls contain several pieces of music, and our invcntion contemplates mechanism which will Y rewind the sheet of'music after all of the pieces thereon have been played. This eing the primary object of our invention, there isalso provided means whereby said sheet of music may pass over the trackerboard at varying speeds, so'as to give the desired effect to the music as it is being played.

Our invention will be clearly understood reference bein Ahad to the accompanying drawings, in w ich Figure 1 illustrates the mechanism which is adapted to-be placed inside' of a piano directly beneath the keyboard; Fig. 2 is an elevation view of pneumatic mechanism used in conjunction'with the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is atop view of Fig. 2; Fig. 4-is a verticalsectional view, taken on line -14-4 of Fig. 3; Fi 5 is aview taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1; ig. 6 'is a view partly in. section, taken on ,line 6-6 ofFig. 1; Fig. 7 illustrates mechanism for controlling a circuit-in which is included a motor, this mechaism being used for startin the operation of the piano by means of t e insertion of coins into a chute. v

In Fig. 1 is shown supporting members 1 and 2, between which are supported the rolls 3 and 4, a music'sheet 5 being shown for winding 'upon the roll 3 when the music is being played' and being re'wound upon the roll 4 after-all the pieces on said sheet have been played. Tn order to effectthis 'desired result, there is provided a motor 6 having a' of shaft 7, meshing to which is secured a Worm ear"8f Vith a worm wheel 9 which 1s fasshaft 10 supported in bearings -11 and 12 on the motor, and 13 and 14 being bearings to further aid in supporting said shaft. During the operation when the music isv being played, the. s I aft 10 rotates in the direction illustrated by the arrow 15. This co shaft is connected by Ineans of a universal jointl 16 with a shaft-17 having cranks 18,' with which arms 19, 1'9 are connected with the connecting members 20, 20, which are fastened to exhausters 21, 21, there being shown but three of such exhausters, which are disposed behind a supporting board 22 to the fiont of which is secured a mainbellows 23. Although these exhausters and bellows are old in the art, they will be explained 7o merely to make clear the purpose of our vinvention. To that end it may be stated that the air is exhausted out of the main bellows by means of the exhaustcrs 21, 21, and 'to prevent said bellows from becoming coml'715 pletely collapsed, there is disposed an-'L- shaped member 24 pivoted at 25, the end 26 engaging a roller 27 and the end 28 having a' spring 29 ,secured thereto, the other end of said spring being fastened to a post 30. It will be apparent that this mechanism lprevents the collapse of said bellows, and consequently the' air is withdrawn from the pneumatic mechanism 31, which willbe later described, andwith connected by means of the flexible pipe 32. The pneumatic mechanism 31 preferably consists of a supporting member 32', at each side of which are disposed bellows 33 and 34.

A channel 35 passing through supporting 90 member 32 connects the bellows-33with the compartment 36. A similar channel 37 communicates with the bellows 34 and'fwith la compartment similar to 36, these compartments being disposed side by side, as will be l noted from Fig. 3. Each of these compartments is connected to the chamber 33 by pans of openings 39 in the casing 40, and as tieiadellows 23 is in direct communication with this chamber, the air wilzhbe exhausted therefrom. Each of these compartments is also connected to atmosphere through the o enings 41 and 42. As clearly shown in ig. 3, there are cross-pieces 43 and 44 which span these openings and are adapted for supy porting stems 45 and 46. Theconstruction these parts is similar, and a description of one will serve as the description ofthe other, and therefore`it,maybe stated that-the stem A45 terminates in a plate 47, between Whicl1^`i"` which the bellows 23- is 85 /covering a chamber 50.

- sageway l Ushaped frame 91.

and a washer 18 is disposed a flexible member or diaphragm L19 this member completely The stem has scoured thereto a valve 51, which normallycloses the opening 39 leading from the co1npartment 36 and the compartment 38. 'lhere is shown a passageway 52 which leads fromthe compartment and terminates in 'a metal tube 53, this tube being provided so as to form a connection forthe rubber tube 106. Connecting compartment 38 and. pas- 52 there is provided restricted channels 55. ln order ,to limit the .volume of air which will pass through these channels, there is provided a screw 56, which is adapted to limit the size of the connection of said openings.

livoted at 57 on the supporting member 31 l there is shown a link 58, which pivots at 59 to an arm 60 which has connection with the bellows 33 and 34. The end y61 engages bctween members 62, which are secured to the rod 63 which may be supported in bear ings 64, 64. Y

The right end of rod 63 terminates in members 65, Ybetween which is disposed' a pin 66 which is secured to a vertical, rotatable shaft 57, this shaft being supported by means of brackets 68 and 69, which may besecuredto the supporting member 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. At the upper end of the shaft there is provided a pin 70 which extends backward and engages in a slot 71 in the hub 72 of the sheav'e 73, which is slidably mounted upon the shaft't upon which the roll l is secured.

Clutch mechanism 7 5 is employed so as to cause this sheave to'be brought into driving relation with the shaft. El pin 76 is also secured to the shaft 67, and is adapted to engage in a slot 7 7 upon aihub 78 of the sheave 79. @hitch mechanism is also provided in connection with this sheave, and as shown in 1, is in driving relation with the shaft 80 which supports the roll 3. 1t is apparent that this mechanism provides thc necessary means for alternately connecting and disconnecting the sheaves 73 and'79 with the shafts upon which they are mounted, and in order to secure the desired connection with .the inotor 6, therezis provided a belt 81 which passes over a pulley or a sheave 82 which is se curely fastened to the shaft 10. The shaft 10 terminates in a cone pulley 83, which is in frietional engagement with a pulley 84 mounted upon a shaft 85, this si pivotally mounted in a supporting frame 85 which has arms 87 and 88 extendingbacltward and secured to a shaft 89 by means of set screws 00, this shaftbeing pivotally mounted on the The shaft 89 has loosely mounted thereon pulleys 92 of different diameters and which are shown as being belted 'te pulleys 93. A belt 94. connects puliey with the sheave '70. illhe shaft 8 5 is'crrnnec'tpd by means of a and socket jioint 95 to a-member .16 supported in the s connection from the opening aft being bearing 97 and pivoted to a link 98 which terminates in a handle 99, which is adapted to extend into a slot in the key bed of the pianoand is adapted to be actuated at the will of the operator. ln order to cause the pulleys 83 and 84 to make roper engagement, there isl secured to the frame 86a spring 100, which is preferably secured to the supporting member, although any other means may be'employed which will produce the desired result. After all of the pieces of music which are upon the sheet 5 have been played and are wound upon the roll 3, it is necessary to rewind the music on the roll 4, and to this end there is an opening 101 in said sheet which registers with the opening 103 in the trackerboard, the opening 104 being connected to the'pn'eumatic mechanism by vmeans of a flexible tube 105. A similar 103 is shown by means of the flexible tube 106.

The mechanism which forms the subject of our invention is preferably adapted to be started by the insertion of a coin into the piano, which coin passes through a chute 107 that leads to a receptacle 108 which may be disposed at any suitableA place underneath the key bed of the piano. As clearly shown in Fig. 7, -we have provided an arrangement by which the coin closes a circuit so that the motor' 6 will cause the operation of the mechanism, and to that end we lhave pivoted at 109 a lever 110, which has secured thereto a contact spring 111 which, a's-shown in the drawing, is in engagement with a stud 112, the pivot 100 and the stud 112 forming the terminals of a circuit which has included therein the motor6 and a source of current 113. The lever 110 engages in a slot 114 in a member 115, which is pivoted at 116 and which has hinged at 117 a connecting mem- 'ber 118 which is secured to bellows 11S) fastened to asupporting piece 120. Ilxtending through the supporting piece is a channel 121 connected by in cans of a Atube 122 to one of the pneumatics of the piano, which is clearly shown and described in our application Serial No. 302,765, allowed January 4, 1908.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: Nhen a coin is insertedv into the piano, it passes through the chute 107 and strll'res the level.1 110 and throws it into the position as sho-Wn in full lines in the drawing. This closes the circuit, as shown, and causes the motor 6to operate; consequently, through the afore-mentioned mechanism, the roll'3 will be rotated so as to draw the sheet 5 over the trackerboard, causing the operation of the piano. After each been played, itis desirab e'tohave the piano cease playing and to effect this an opening 123, o which the-reis provided 'one fer each iece of music, registers with an opening .124 in the ltrackexboard which is' connected by means of a tube 125 to the pneumatic above.

piece of music has referred to. .The operation of this pneumatic causesthe bellows 119 to collapse, and

conse uently rotates the member 11-'5and allowst e lever`110 to move into its dott'ed pol sltlon, a spring 126 in this instance causlng the4 lever to assume such osition'. This, it

will be apparent, opens t e circuit for the.

reason that the spring 111 becomes disengaged from the stud 112, 'and the circuit will not again 4be closed until another coin has been inserted, into the chute, which coin will again throwthe lever into the position as shown in full lines to close the circuit. In order to hold the member 115 so that the slot 16 114 will roperly engage the lever 110, there is provi ed a spring 127 for this purpose. After the coin has been inserted and the circuit is closed, the operation which takes place is as follows: The motorfis caused to operate, consequently the shaft 10 is rotated in the direction of the arrowV andthe cone pulley 83'causes the pulley 84 to rotate, and

y means ofthe ulleys 92 and 93 the sheave 79 is rotated in t e direction of the arrow, as indicated. This, it will be seen, draws the sheet 5 over the trackerboard and conseqlpently causes the piano to be played. As t e music sheet passes over the trackerboard when the piano 1s being played, theppassages 103, 104 and 124 are closed. The air 1s slowly withdrawn from these passages and the chamber 50 by virtue of the connection of chamber 38 through the restricted channels 55. After all the pieces contained on 85 the sheet have'been played, the opening/101 in the sheet registers with the opening 103,I

which causes air to rush through the openings through the tube 106, and through the metal tube 53 connected therewith, through the channel 52 and into the compartment 50. As the air has previously been exhausted from these arts owing tothe connection of the channe s 55 with the .compartment 38 and the iiexible member 49 maintained in the position as shown, it will be apparent that theair as it rushes into the compartment 50 lifts the stem and the associated valve, and closes the opening 41 leading to the atmosphere. I his establishes communication from the bellows 33 through the passageway 35, chamber 36, opening 39 and chamber 38,.

'and as the bellows 33 is thus directly in connection with the main bellows 23, the air will.

become 'exhausted Vfrom the bellows 33 through the channel 35, chamber 36, passageway 39 and chamber 38, out through the flexible tube 32, thus causingfthe collapsing 0f the bellows 33, and as the bellows 34 is in communication with atmos here, the air will 00 rush into said bellows to in ate it, and as thev bellows 33 is collapsed, there'will be an action such as to,A cause thelever 58 tolbe swun about the pivot 57, thus shiftin the rod 6 to the right, causing the vertica shaft 67 to rotate, and thus by means of the pm 70, the

.of the ro sheave 73 will be brought ,into driving relation with the shaft 74 and at the same instant the sheave 79'will b e brought out of driving engagement with the shaft 80. This causes the roll 4 to be rotated in the direction 70 as indicatedby the arrow, and causes a rewinding of the sheet of music. After the sheet has been rewound upon the roll 4, there are openings 102 which register with the opening104 and cause the air to rush into 7 5 said opening and through the flexible tube 105 and to the pneumatic mechanism 31, and thereby actuating the valve connected with spindle 46 to close the opening 42 leading to l atmosphere,` the result being thatv theibellows 80 34 is brought intocommunication witlsrtha.VV bellows 23 and the air exhausted therefrom i through the channel 37, chamber 36, opening 39 an chamber 38 and pipe 32. During this action, the spindle 45 remains inert, and con- 8.5 sequently the bellows 33 is in connection with atmosphere to cause inflation thereof. multaneously with this operation, there is. an opening on the music sheet which registers with the opening 124, causing the actuation 90 of the pneumatic 119 to break the circuit and stop the motor. The mechanism will now be in position to start upon the insertion of a coin. When the rod 63 is shifted toward the right, there is provided a slide 128 which has 95 openings 12,9 which are brou ht out of regis? ter with the openings 130 of t e air chest 131 whichl has connection with the neumatics' of 1 the piano by means of-a tu e 132. .This -j slide 128 is shifted by means of a pivotedll ymember 133, which has connection to the shaft at 134, so that when said shaft is shifted' v toward the right, the openings 130 will become closed and the bellows willbeused during such period to exclusively operate the 105 pneumatic mechanism 31 cutting 0H the.:

pneumatics of the piano from the main exaust 23 during rewind. Of course, vwhen the music is being played the openings 129in the slide are in register with the openings 130,

and cause the air to be exhausted out of the chest 131 so as to'cause the proper actuation vQi'fthe pneumatics of the plano. It is fre- "quently necessary -when a piece is being played that the mechanism be given varying speeds, and for this pu ose the lever' 98 is provided so that the pu e 84 can be shifted so that it will engage di erent areas ofthe cone pullely 83, thus securing a varying speed 1 3 12o This .mechanism,it will be apparent, Cprovides a very simple arrangement to pro uce the desired result of shifting the mechanism so that the sheet of music will be rewound upon une rcll after all the pieces thereon have been piaved, and while we have shown but one embodiment of our invention, itis apparent that chan es may be made without departing from t e spirit and scope of our m.-I vention. y l130 vmatic mechanism comprising a centra We do not, therefore, wish to limit ourselves to the recise construction herein described, but esire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. ln combination, a self-playing piano'7 music rolls associated therewith, means for causing the operation of said rolls, a trackerboard, a music sheet adapted to pass over said traclte'rboard, pneumatic mechanism connected with said traclierboard, there beingv openings in said music sheet for causingvj operation of said pneumatic mechanism, bellows for connection with said pneumaticl mechanism, means associated with said music rolls for causing their rotation in one direction when one oi said bellows of pneumatic mechanism is iniiated, said music rolls being caused to rotate iii the opposite direction when the otherof said bellows is in- Hated, and means for causin a Varying degree of speed with which t e music sheet ai. cieca/i p 2. In combination, a self-playing piano,

-music rolls associated therewith, means for' causing the operation of said rolls, a trackerboard, a music sheet adapted to pass over said trackerboard, pneumatic mechanism connected with said trackerboard, there being openings in said music sheet for causing operation of said pneumatic mechanism, said pneumatic mechanism comprising a central supporting member, bellows disposed on each side of said member, there being channels eX- tending through said supporting memberand Aconnected to said bellows, valve mechanism in connection with each of said channels, means associated with said music rolls for causing their rotation in one direction when one of said bellows of the pneumatic mechanism is inflated, said music rolls being caused to rotate in the opposite direction when the other of said bellows is iniiated, and

means for manually causing a Varying degree 'of speed of said sheet of music as it passes over the trackerboai'd.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 13th day of February, A. D.

AXEL F. LARSON.

KARL O. OSTERGREN. Witnesses:

LEONARD W. NOVANDER, GEORGE E. HIGHAM. 

